Ponyo on the Cliff

I can't think of any other blog title than the movie title itself. For me, Ponyo is another example of Miyazaki's masterpiece of animation and story telling. I believe this Ponyo can be a perfect movie to attract younger generation to follow the Ghibli Studios legacy. I bet those kids will rent Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and many others. I have watched both the Japanese and the English dubbed version, and both provide the same quality, although I always feel the originality by watching the Japanese dub version. Nevertheless, with the row of magnificent voice actors from Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, Matt Damon, and Cate Blanchett, the English version is as good as the original one.

The story is inspired on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, with some Ghibli's injections, where a mermaid, Ponyo who is really eager to go to the surface of the sea, and live along with the humans. Therefore, her desire to be one of them is becoming irresistible, although this life path is strongly forbidden by her father. On the other hand, we have Sosuke's family where his mother works in an elderly house and his father most of the time is on the sea working. The story then evolves when Sosuke found Ponyo, and they're becoming friends, where in the end, Ponyo's choice to become human may brings consequences not just for her self, but also affecting Sosuke's family and the city where they live in.

We're living in the era where 'animation' constantly upgraded into the higher level, where it involves high-tech rendering mechanism. Even for future releases, I believe every animation movie will be 3-D ready. What is amazing from Miyazaki and his group of talents from Ghibli Studio, is that he is able to maintain the old fashioned 2D animation, with hand drawing techniques. Old school, but the story telling has never disappointed us. I believe no other animator (apart from Pixar) who has maintained these good work of art and widely acceptable for the worldwide audiences, not just in Japan only. Ponyo is a sweet loving movie, with a very nice family value and lessons of love. It's not over melodramatic, nor too melancholic, the whole thing is just well balanced. But nevertheless, the Miyazaki's vision and imagination is just beyond words.

If you're a first timer watching a Ghibli movie, I suggest you go out and rent the previous ones, they are as good or even better than Ponyo. For all the fans, it's a celebration and proper appreciation of another piece of art by Miyazaki. I keep my fingers crossed that someday Ghibli and Pixar can work together, and won an Oscar for Best Picture. Who knows???

My Ratings : 8.5/10